Representatives first filed a lawsuit against director George Nolfi and production company Media Rights Capital in October, claiming its targets refused to pay millions of dollars in royalties. The Adjustment Bureau is loosely based on Dick's 1953 short story Adjustment Team, in which everyday existence is revealed to be a product of mysterious unseen manipulators.

The first case was thrown out by a federal judge two months ago, but estate lawyer Justin Goldstein refiled the case at state level in the Los Angeles superior court on Monday. A statement reads: "The Philip K Dick Trust continued its litigation today against producer Media Rights Capital in Los Angeles County superior court, filing a complaint to enforce its agreement related to the motion picture The Adjustment Bureau. We had hoped to avoid having to take this step, but are left with no choice because Media Rights Capital continues to ignore its contractual obligations.

"We are confident that the court will find that Philip K Dick's heirs are entitled to receive what they were promised in return for the right to use their father's work and name in producing and distributing The Adjustment Bureau."

The estate says it was promised royalties by Nolfi in 2001 after the film-maker approached it seeking rights to Dick's story. The director and production company counter that Adjustment Team was out of copyright by the time they came to film it a decade later, and say they therefore owe nothing.

Dick's estate is asking for at least $500,000 for breach of contract, money had and received, quantum meruit, unjust enrichment and accounting. The writer, who died in 1982 aged 53, is one of Hollywood's most cherished sources of ideas for science-fiction-themed film-making. His stories have formed the basis of movies such as Paul Verhoeven's Total Recall (and its forthcoming identically titled remake), Steven Spielberg's Minority Report, Ridley Scott's Blade Runner and Richard Linklater's A Scanner Darkly, among others.